Whitestown police chief’s patrol car hit by cycle

A 49-year-old central New York woman is hospitalized after her motorcycle collided with a stopped patrol car.

Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol says Mary Tartaglia was seriously injured Wednesday morning when her motorcycle slammed into the left rear of a vehicle driven by Whitestown Police Chief Donald Wolanin.

Wolanin had stopped in a single lane of traffic to assist a motorist on a ramp approaching an overpass in suburban Utica.

The sheriff’s office has yet to determine who’s to blame.

The Utica Observer-Dispatch reports it’s the second time this year Wolanin’s vehicle has been involved in an accident. Last January, his patrol car struck a pedestrian who was crossing a street in Whitesboro. Wolanin was not ticketed and no injuries were initially reported.